The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) published today (January 15) the January 2018 issue of the Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics (HKMDS).

Apart from providing up-to-date statistics, this issue also contains two feature articles entitled "External Debt Statistics of Hong Kong for 2012 to 2016" and "Marriage and Divorce Trends in Hong Kong, 1991 to 2016".

"External Debt Statistics of Hong Kong for 2012 to 2016"

External Debt (ED) statistics provide useful information for international financial surveillance. They assist data users in monitoring the development of an economy's external liabilities and hence its debt servicing obligations over time. Over the past five years, the gross ED of Hong Kong increased by 31.7%, from $7,987.5 billion at end-2012 to $10,521.9 billion at end-2016. This was mainly attributable to the significant increases in the ED of the banking sector and other sectors.

There has been an increasing tendency towards marriage postponement or non-marriage in both genders in recent years. In 2016, 32.4% of males and 28.0% of females had never been married (figures excluding foreign domestic helpers). The median ages at first marriage for men and women increased from 29.1 and 26.2 in 1991 to 31.4 and 29.4 in 2016 respectively. Moreover, out of the 50 008 registered marriages in Hong Kong in 2016, marriages between Hong Kong residents took up around 54.6%, while Mainland-Hong Kong cross-boundary marriages took up another 34.7%. The latter was significantly higher than that in 1991. On the other hand, the number of divorces increased continuously, with the crude divorce rate at 2.34 per 1 000 population in 2016, more than double that in 1991.

This feature article provides an overview on the marriage and divorce trends in Hong Kong from 1991 to 2016.

Published in bilingual form, the HKMDS is a compact volume of official statistics containing about 140 tables. It collects up-to-date statistical series on various aspects of the social and economic situation of Hong Kong. Topics include population; labour; external trade; National Income and Balance of Payments; prices; business performance; energy; housing and property; government accounts, finance and insurance; and transport, communications and tourism. For selected key statistical items, over 20 charts depicting the annual trend in the past decade and quarterly or monthly trend in the recent two years are also available. Users can download the Digest free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp140.jsp?productCode=B1010002).

Enquiries about the contents of the Digest can be directed to the Statistical Information Services Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4738; email: gen-enquiry@censtatd.gov.hk).